Joy-filled Tagalog Morning

The Sunday before Valentines Day happened to be Mentoring Sunday. A one-hour, once a month program where volunteers, like me, spend time with the parish's scholars.

 (Know more about this by clicking here and here and here )

As I was absent the previous month, the committee felt I should make up for it by taking the lead.  This means coming up with an appropriate subject matter to bring to the attention of the children.  Although it had to be delivered in Tagalog, I gamely accepted.  My poor grasp of the language always made for comedy relief.   At the very least, I would have made the children and their parents smile as they try to make sense of what I was saying.

It being the "Love Month", my talk was to take up the meaning of love.  The challenge was to present it in a manner that would be easily grasped by grade 1 students and not make the high schoolers bored.

I admit that I checked the internet for possible games or activities. I read up on Bible quotes defining love. I threw a couple of ideas back and forth to my daughter-- none quite came up to her standards.  

In desperation, with only a day to go, I prayed for help from the Holy Spirit.

When finally my pen hit paper, my talking points flowed.  My Pilipino teacher would have been proud of me.

---xoxoxoxoxox---

Format: Game Show

Game Plan:  Asked for 5 volunteers from the children.  Each child got a chance to answer a question and explained the reason behind the answer. A prize was then given to the child and a short elaboration to the answer was also provided.

Ano ba ang pag-ibig? Kung gawin natin ala “Who wants to be a millionaire" para matuwa kayo sa pag intindi nyo… tawag tayo ng contestants:

Dodong/Inday: 

1.  Saan mo mahanap ang pinaka tunay na kahulugan ng pag-ibig?

a.   Sa internet

b.   Sa Webster Dictionary

c.   Sa Bible

d.   Sa kapanonood ng telenovela

 Kailangan pa i- call a friend o ask the audience? So sure ka na ba sa answer mo?

Tama! Letter C, sa Bible.

2.  Kung gusto natin maintindihan kung ano ang tunay na pag-ibig, klangan natin tularin si:

1. Haring David
2. Jesus
3. Abraham
4. Juan Bautista

Tama! Letter B, si Jesus

3.  Anong mga katangian ni Jesus na pwede natin tularin:

1. Hindi mamimili kung sinong pwedeng ibigin o tulongan
2. Mag-pahaba ng buhok
3. Kumain lang ng isda at tinapay
4. Bumu-o ng isang grupo

Tama! Letter A, Hindi mamimili kung sinong pwedeng tulongan o ibigin

4.  Ano ang mayroon tayong lahat na maaari gamitin o ibigay upang ipakita ang ating pag-ibig para sa isa't isa?

1. Pera
2. Chocolates at Candies
3. Oras
4. Celphone Load

Tama! Letter C, Oras. Oras mag-volunteer, oras mag-tulong sa bahay, etc.

5.  Ano ang maaari nating abangan kung mahal natin ang isa't isa?

1. Ma-bigyan ng medalya galing kay Pnoy
2. Ma-palapit sa Diyos
3. Ma-katangap ng bayad o regalo
4. Malagay ang pangalang sa front page ng dgaryo

Tama  ! Letter b, ma-palapit sa Diyos

Mayroon ba kayo napulot kung ano ang kahulugan ng pag-ibig?

Sabi si Pope Francis:  Love is more in actions than in words, more in giving than in receiving.

Ang pag-sabi na iniibig mo ang isang tao ay hindi sapat.  Dapat mayroon gawa.  Ito masagana (generous) at hindi makasarili (walang pag-iimbot—selfless) sa pagbibigay ng tulong o pag-ibig sa lahat ng tao nang walang pag-iisip ng bayad o pabor.

Mga Bigatin Halimbawa galing sa Biblia:

--feed the hungry-- bigyan ng pagkain ang nagugutom

--cloth the naked-- bigyan ng damit ang hubad

--visit the sick or imprisoned-- pag-bisita sa may sakit o nasa kulungan

--give shelter to the homeless-- bigyan ng matuluyan ang nawala ng tahanan

Ask the audience: Mayroon ba kayong simpleng halimbawa na kaya nyong pakita ang inyong pag-mamahal sa kapwa?

At kung wala kang pwedeng gawin o masabi para makatulong mo ang kapwa mo, mag-dasal ka.  Kasi ang iyong dasal ay aabot saan hindi kayo maaaring umabot na pisikal. (Divine Mercy Prayer)

Para tuloy tuloy ang pag-intindi nyo ang kahulugan ng pag-ibig atg mga aralin ni Jesus, mag-simba kayo at palaging makinig sa Salita ng Dios.

---xoxox---

The happy faces of the scholars and their parents set the tone for the rest of my Sunday.  I too felt their joy in receiving what I had to say. It certainly was a day of Joy.  One that inspired me to make the following heart-shaped fruit filled pastries.  Nothing like a heart-shaped cookie cutter to bring on the love.

You will need:
1 pie-crust recipe ( click here )

a bottle of fruit preserves  -- strawberries, pineapple, peach, mango, and such
or you can make it from scratch using your favorite fruit pie filling
(in my case, I scraped the pulp of 2 mangoes, added about 2 tablespoons of sugar and a teaspoon of calamansi juice. Heat this up in a pot and as soon as it simmers add a cornstarch slur (about 2 teaspoon of cornstarch dissolved in 3 tablespoons of water-- more or less).  Simmer until mixture thickens up. Cool down before using)

1 egg-yolk

Procedure:

Using your heart shaped cookie cutter, cut up some hearts on your rolled out pie-crust.

Depending on the size of your heart, place a teaspoon to a tablespoon of fruit preserves in the center of the heart.

Then take another heart and place it on top of the heart with the preserves. 

Gently press down around the edges with the tines of a fork and transfer to a greased cookie sheet. Brush with some eggyolk and do the same for the rest of the hearts.

Bake in a 400 degree oven until golden.

Serve with love and joy!